OASIS DRUMMER SETTLES

Axed Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll left London’s High Court Tuesday with a smile on his face after settling a claim against one of Britain’s richest pop groups. Both sides refused to discuss details of the deal, but McCarroll, who is believed to have been seeking up to $29 million, was definitely happy with the outcome, telling reporters he was “going out to celebrate.” McCarroll, who played on the band’s debut album “Definitely Maybe” and on “Some Might Say,” the No 1 single from the second album, “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory,” lost his job after a skirmish with frontman Liam Gallagher in a Paris bar. The rest of the band had apparently accused him of taking no interest in improving his “poor” drumming. But the legal battle, which had promised to be one of the most sensational trials in the pop music industry, ended in just a few minutes. Brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher, who were expected to give evidence from the witness box if the case had gone ahead, were not present for the brief hearing in the packed, wood-paneled courtroom.